“The situation caused us significant damage because we had planned four concerts in Lithuania: Šiauliai, Panevezys, Klaipeda and Vilnius,” Loboda said at a news conference in the Lithuanian capital on Monday.
“The organizers stopped selling tickets when they heard the news. Compensa illegally refused to organize our concert and only informed us that our concert was not wanted,” he explained.
Loboda informed that his lawyers are preparing a lawsuit against the concert hall for the cancellation of the concert contract.
The singer’s concert in the Lithuanian capital has been moved to Pramogu Arena, but other concerts scheduled in Lithuania have been cancelled.
The Ukrainian-born musician pointed out that many lies were publicly spread about her. Loboda stressed that she has never visited the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea for private or professional reasons since it was annexed by Russia in 2014, nor has she performed at the May 9 celebrations, with which Russia celebrates the victory of the Union Soviet in World War II.
For these reasons, Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs considered adding the singer to the country’s unwanted list at the end of November. Subsequently, the ministry admitted that there was no legal basis for such an action.
“I’ve never performed at Russian government concerts, that’s a lie,” Loboda told reporters on Monday. “My position was principled regarding the concerts in Crimea and May 9. I have always positioned myself as a Ukrainian artist,” she added.
In March, Loboda was removed from the list of undesirable persons in Ukraine.
When asked by reporters who owns Crimea, Loboda initially said the territory belongs to the people of Crimea, but later confirmed that the peninsula – like Donetsk and Luhansk – is part of Ukraine.
During the concert tour, Loboda performed in Tallinn at the end of October, went to the USA, Moldova and other countries, but information on her profile in the social network “Instagram” shows that she is scheduled to perform not only in Lithuania, but also in Armenia, the Czech Republic, Israel, Cyprus, Uzbekistan and Germany. In announcing the tour, she stressed that a portion of her proceeds will be donated to the restoration of her native Irpina her.
He told reporters in Vilnius that at all concerts he tells the audience what is currently happening in Ukraine and who is to blame, and also expresses an unambiguous position on social media.
“At all my charity concerts I tell my supporters that I am against the war and I invite them to be on my side, on the side of Ukraine,” the singer said.
Loboda admitted his decision to focus his career on Russia was a mistake.
“Yes, now that I’m here with you, of course I realize it was a mistake, but I followed my childhood dream. I wanted to be a famous artist. I didn’t think about politics. I was a woman who pursued her goal and that I got to where I am now without sponsors,” she explained.
As Loboda said, many Ukrainians worked in Russia and cooperated with Russia from 2014 until February 24 of this year, and Ukrainian laws did not prohibit this.
He added that he has received many offers to return to Russia and support his regime. “Of course I didn’t agree,” the singer confirmed.
“It’s a big tragedy for them, a big loss, because every famous person who leaves the country is a big loss, and there’s a lot of propaganda about it,” he said.
Before the concert in Tallinn, she told Estonian public broadcaster ERR that when the war started on February 24, she immediately pulled her children out of school in Moscow and left behind a long-standing life and career with a stable income. She settled in Latvia.
Loboda has expressed his determination to hold as many concerts as possible to raise funds that could be directed towards helping Ukraine.
The singer was born in 1982 in Irpin, represented Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009.
